Phone hacking: the other victims

Police patrol in front of the headquarter of News International in London last July. Photograph: Kerim Okten/EPA

There's a solid rule in legal lore: "Justice delayed is justice denied". That is exactly what has happened to me, my family, and scores of other journalists and individuals caught up in the phone-hacking scandal and associated inquiries. And the injustice to them and me at the hands of the police and Crown Prosecution Service potentially applies to any crime suspect, and needs to be stopped.

I can only write this now because suddenly, last Friday morning, after 19 months under arrest and on conditional bail, the CPS announced that there was no evidence to charge me after all, and the investigation was over [see footnote]. Think about that: over one and a half years of my life since I was arrested in a 6am raid on 14 July 2011 at our west London home. I lost my job, and my family went through hell until I was finally cleared.

The 100-plus people on bail in the biggest criminal investigation in British history include a Sun journalist arrested – in a dawn raid, of course – in Operation Elveden (into payments to police) in November 2011, after documents were supplied to police by his own employers, News International. Despite that paperwork, 16 months later he's still in limbo on conditional bail. A young mother, arrested at 6am surrounded by her crying children in December 2011 and still on bail, could barely speak for tears when she rang me this week and asked: "Will this ever end?" A very senior Sun journalist arrested 15 months ago and carted off to sit alone in a cell for four hours was promised a decision from the CPS this week. The night before D-day his bail was extended for another month. No explanation.

The eminent crime and civil rights QC John Cooper, who endorses my call for change, has a client who was arrested last summer as part of a hacking-related investigation. This week that person was told their bail had been extended until June. No explanation.

Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 there is something known as the "Pace clock". This means that police can only arrest and keep in custody, or question, a non-terrorist suspect for a maximum 24 hours before further legal authority is needed to continue that detention. In my 19 months, they used up just 17 hours – they added it up in front of me during my final interview three weeks ago.

There needs to be a "Pace calendar", with similar restrictions on how long someone can be kept under arrest on bail and their lives kept in turmoil. When I suggested this on Twitter, the distinguished academic and legal author Ed Cape, whose book Defending Suspects at Police Stations is regarded as the bible of proper legal procedure, instantly fired back support. He said: "Bail w/o charge is indefinite Should be time limited and require judicial authority thereafter."

No one doubts that some crime investigations may need to take a very long time: international money-laundering, for example, or complex financial frauds. But many lawyers, including Cooper, tell me this open-ended bail situation is being regularly abused by police and the CPS, and should be periodically reviewed by a senior layer of the legal system – probably a judge – to ensure an investigation has not simply turned into a fishing exercise.

After a year – several lawyers say six months – the CPS and police should have to go to court to demonstrate there really are reasonable grounds to continue. The judge could then give them a set timeframe to obtain enough evidence to justify a charge, or halt the investigation entirely.

It's the only way to prevent the police and the CPS continuing the Mr Micawber-style "something will turn up" abuse that is causing such open-ended suffering to so many.

• For legal reasons, comments on this article have not been opened

• This footnote was added on 6 March 2013. As made clear in the highlighted link, the CPS statement said it had concluded that there was "insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction" in relation to Neil Wallis.